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Youth and Media Research Opportunities: Part-Time

The Berkman Center’s Youth and Media project seeks full and part-time research assistants for its Youth and Media Lab.  Information about the part-time roles in research, creative, and curriculum development and peer learning can be found below; read more about the full-time position here.  

Are you a current college student and in search of a part-time position? Are you interested in studying social science, media studies, or education? Want to collaborate closely with top Harvard researchers and innovative partners in academia, government, and industry?

The Lab brings together young people, leading researchers and developers from the Berkman Center, and mentors from the Center’s broader network to engage creatively with the core challenges and opportunities of youth empowerment and digital citizenship. The Lab’s primary research efforts are focused on information quality, creative rights/content creation, online privacy, and kindness, meanness, and bravery among youth. More information about the Lab can be found at: http://youthandmedia.org.

Position Types and Responsibilities:

We are looking for new team members in three areas (descriptions of activities and skills below). Each area, however, has some common skill requirements:

• The ability to respond to feedback on multiple iterations of any output
• An openness to collaboration
• Responsible communication with team members about progress, schedules, etc.

1)   Research

We produce papers, articles, and reports about topics such as privacy and information quality. We are looking for someone with strong research, writing, and analytical skills to support our efforts (experience with both quantitative and qualitative data analysis is preferred).  

Required Experience and Skills:

• Advanced writing and editing skills, with the ability to quickly draft and contextualize written materials within the suite of the project outputs
• Excellent critical reading abilities, with the ability to absorb material quickly
• Reviewing and synthesizing large amounts of multidisciplinary academic material

Additional Skills and Interests Helpful for This Position:

• Familiarity with data analysis tools such as NVivo, SPSS, Gephi, etc.

2)   Creative

Creativity is a core part of the Lab’s activities and takes shape in all manner of media production. Think infographics, visualizations, presentations, video production, and more. Our creative outputs often complement and support our research efforts, though they can also stand on their own. We are seeking someone with an eye for aesthetics and a flair for design. This person will be expected to help visualize our research outputs by brainstorming the most appropriate creative outputs with our team and then executing the vision in collaboration with other team members.

Example outputs could include: unique presentations using state-of-the-art software, handsome static graphics and infographics (for print or web), dynamic/interactive web graphics, or motion graphics for inclusion in videos.

The specific skills and vision you bring to the position will determine the form your creative outputs will take.

Required Experience and Skills:

(We are looking for proficiency in one or more of these areas, but not in all.)

• Facility with the Adobe Creative Suite (especially Illustrator and Photoshop)
• Ability to translate research material into visual/creative representations in a variety of media, including presentation tools such as Prezi and Powerpoint
• Comfort with technical specifications for image and video production

Additional Skills and Interests Helpful for This Position:

• Familiarity with video and motion graphics editing platforms (Final Cut and Adobe After Effects)
• Familiarity with PHP, CSS, and design in user interaction or user experience

3)    Curriculum Development and Peer Learning

We create curricular “modules” designed to foster greater awareness and reflection (or, “aha!” moments) with other youth. The modules are based on our research and areas of interest, and have included youths’ experiences of information quality and interpersonal relationships online. We then field-test the modules at the Lab, in classrooms and informal learning settings, and online. We are looking for someone to help us advance our development efforts and explore new modes of teaching.

Required Experience and Skills:

• Synthesis of multidisciplinary academic material and identification of key points.
• Communication and/or leadership skills, e.g. facilitating substantive discussions

Additional Skills and Interests Helpful for This Position:

• Previous experience with curricular development or teaching experience in formal or informal learning settings, including classrooms, peer-to-peer workshops, tutoring, youth leadership trainings, etc.

General Academic Year Intern/Research Assistant Information and Eligibility:

• We are unable to hire Interns/RAs who live outside of the state of Massachusetts.
  
• We do not have the ability to provide authorization to work in the United States
• Interns/RAs do not have to be students.
• Interns/RAs do not have to be affiliated with Harvard University.

Time Commitment & Payment:
RAs work approximately 12-15 hours per week. Compensation is the standard Harvard RA/intern rate of $11.50/hour. No other benefits are provided.  

This position is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and remote participation is not possible for this opportunity.

Start date: as soon as possible.

To Apply: 


Please send your current CV or resume and a cover letter summarizing your interest and experience to Sandra Cortesi at scortesi@cyber.law.harvard.edu with “Application for part-time Youth and Media RA” in the subject line.